Dimentio's Box
by MrLRocks78
Summary: What happens when Mr. L receives a box from Dimentio, said to contain his wildest dreams? Well, you're soon to find out.
1. The Box

The river burbled and sang as squirrels chattered in the trees and swallows flew overhead, free as, well, birds. Flowers and branches swayed lazily in the light wind that blew itself through the forest clearing. And hopping through all of this was a young wolf, with green fur, a long, razor-sharp arrowhead tail and large feathery wings on his back. Riding on his tail was a crow, with feathers as black as the darkest night. Her bright black eyes surveyed the clearing as the wolf stopped and collapsed, panting.

Behind the two was a rustling noise, and two people emerged from the bushes. One was a young man, in green and black clothes. He wore overalls, gloves, a black mask and a green cap and bandanna. The latter was tied around the man's neck.

Next to him, hovering sedately in the air, was another person, if you could call him a person. His face was mask-like and he wore a purple-and-yellow jester costume. His purple shoes were curled at the ends, and his smile looked creepy and sinister.

"This the place?" asked Mr. L, turning to look at Dimentio with utmost dislike.

"As you wished," replied Dimentio, accompanying his reply with a mock bow. His grin widened.

Mr. L glared at Dimentio for a moment, as though readying himself to hit him. However, he made an indistinguishable noise, something between a grunt and a scoff. Then, he turned to the other two and whistled. The crow flapped her wings and flew to Mr. L, landing on his shoulder and directing her curious gaze to Dimentio.

The wolf straightened up and walked over to Mr. L. He lowered his voice and whispered, "Is that weird jester guy gonna be with us _all the way_?"

"Bolt," said Mr. L warningly. Bolt fell silent. The crow cawed.

"Xena!" said Mr. L sharply.

Xena snickered and tightened her grip on Mr. L's shoulder, who refused to wince. Instead, the latter turned to Dimentio.

"Have you finished your pleasant little conversation, yet?" inquired Dimentio.

Mr. L nodded gruffly.

Dimentio's smile grew more dark and sly, and he clicked his fingers. In an instant, a dark-blue rectangular box with glinting gold hinges appeared out of nowhere, leaving a strange ripple of air behind. Dimentio caught it deftly and held it out to Mr. L.

"Here," he said. "This box contains your wildest dreams. Like a genie in its lamp, they are desperate to be released. But, of course, I cannot open the box. You must."

Mr. L took the box, failing to notice Dimentio's smile, which had switched from sinister to evil-looking. Xena tugged his hair and Bolt whimpered, but both failed to catch the masked man's attention. A look of apprehension on his face, Mr. L opened the box with trembling hands.


	2. Like Lightning

Back at Castle Bleck, Nastasia was walking through the dark corridors, completely unaware of her surroundings. The blue-skinned secretary was thinking hard about what Mr. L and Dimentio were up to as she adjusted her red cat-like glasses and looked down at her clipboard.

The two had simply gone off to some forest or other. Dimentio had said that the forest in question was called Misery Forest, which was quite ironic considering its amazing scenery. At least, that was what _he _had said.

Mr. L had simply muttered something about somebody called Bolt and another person called Xena. Whoever _they _were, they had _no _right to talk to, or even _try _to talk to, one of Count Bleck's minions while they were on-duty. True, they had not been allowed outside for a month or so, but that puny excuse was no reason for the two to go out to a strange, mysterious forest.

To top it all off, the two were considered arch-enemies in the Castle. Admittedly, anyone who knew them could agree that they had some sort of 'seperation'. Before this, if anyone had told Nastasia that the two would accompany each other to Misery Forest, Nastasia would have given them a punishment straight away for acting so stupid.

And now it had happened.

The stressed secretary heaved a sigh and ran her fingers through her pink hair. She consulted her clipboard, and realised that there was a meeting in five minutes. Nastasia sighed and teleported away.

**Meanwhile...**

Bolt's eyes slowly opened. The aldawolf felt groggy as the aftermath of what had happened hit him like lightning. The jester! He had tricked Mr. L into opening that box, damn it! What else had happened? Bolt racked his brains in an effort to remember. Then it clicked.

There had been a flash of light! Yes, he remembered that much. What else? Ah, yes. That accursed jester had grabbed the box, laughing his head off! Bolt remembered he and Xena charging him, before he clicked his fingers and teleported them to this place.

Wait... Xena?

"_Xena_!" exclaimed Bolt, leaping to his paws and whirling around. There, behind him, was Xena, looking right as rain, preening her right wing unconcernedly.

"X-Xena!" gasped Bolt, running over to her. "W-what happened? Where's that damned jester? Oh, I'll show him a piece of my mind... by biting a piece off of _him_!"

"He isn't here," said Xena calmly, cutting through Bolt's babbling. "Have you even taken a look around?"

Bolt turned his head to look. Corridors. And walls. Dang it.

"W-walls!" he yelped. "L-let's get outta here!"

"Why?" asked Xena. "And you'd better calm down. Don't want that stuttering to get any worse, seeing as we're in the place where Mr. L lives."

"We are?" Bolt was momentarily shocked. "L lives _here_?"

"Yes," said Xena bluntly. "And if my information is correct, there's a meeting in progress just over there." She pointed with her wing at a nearby door.

"And what makes you think _that_?" asked Bolt, not bothering to look at the door.

"Because there's a sign on the door that says '_Meeting In Progress: __**DO NOT DISTURB**__'_." said Xena.


	3. A Tap at the Door

"Nastasia!"

Count Bleck frowned at his secretary, his momocle covering left eye, the right one glowing a scarlet-red. He had no legs so flew instead, but he had a white top hat, a white cloak and a scepter with a dark-blue jewel on the top.

"Count Bleck has grown impatient!" he exclaimed, tapping his scepter on the ground in imitation of someone tapping their foot. "Where in the worlds are Dimentio and Mr. L!"

"Uh, I dunno, Count," muttered Nastasia, bowing her head ashamedly. She liked the Count very much, and disappointing him was taken very hard in her case.

"Those dummy-heads!" fumed Mimi, a green-skinned shapeshifter with two pigtails and a yellow-and-white polka-dot dress. "Being late for a meeting just because of their own little thing!"

"Maybe dey're gunna chunk each other!" said O'Chunks, a strong, beefy Scottish man blessed with very little brainpower.

"D'you have _any _idea how wrong that sounds?" said Mimi, tiredly whipping back her hair.

"Minions!" called Count Bleck, and Mimi and O'Chunks both fell silent obediantly.

Count Bleck turned to Nastasia. "Where are they, Nastasia, asked Count Bleck?"

"I think that they're, um, in Misery Forest," said Nastasia in a small voice. "I mean, um, that's w-what Dimentio said..."

"Very well!" Count Bleck straightened his top hat as he turned to look at his minions imperiously. "Minions, Count Bleck has decided that Mimi and O'Chunks are to search for Mr. L and Dimentio at this Misery Forest."

"But Countyyyyyyyy," began Mimi.

"Why do I haff teh go wif' teh lass?" exclaimed O'Chunks. " 'Er brain's been mixed up by 'dem dresses 'n stuff, I tell yeh."

"At least I _have _a brain, dummy-head!" retorted Mimi.

Count Bleck was about to yell "MINIONS!" again, but a tap at the door interrupted him.


	4. Tears of Mirth

Dimentio hurried through Misery Forest, clutching the dark-blue box and his eyes leaking tears of victory. He was chuckling madly to himself. He came across a large oak tree, with a thick trunk and branches reaching to the heavens.

Smirking, almost exploding from laughter, Dimentio placed the Capture Box by the roots of the tree. Then, he slumped against the trunk and howled with laughter, insane laughter that echoed throughout the Forest. Rabbits were disturbed from their hiding places, and crows and jackdaws spiralled into the air, screaming their derisive cries. Tears of mirth streamed down his face as he laughed and laughed and laughed.

After a while, Dimentio felt the laughter die in his throat. Now smiling sinisterly, even though there was no-one around except for the plants and the animals, Dimentio picked up the Capture Box. The box that could capture anyone who opened it into its infinite depths. Millions of dead people were in the Box, their skeletons drifting through the mist... And now Mr. L was soon to become one of those people.

The masked man, floating around in the interior of the Box, slowly growing mad from the isolation. That thought made Dimentio start to snicker with laughter again, and he bit his tounge to silence himself.

Dimentio picked up the Box again and, slowly and oh so carefully, creaked it open, not enough for the Box to suck him in, but enough for him to hear the screams and sobs of the masked man. Fit to burst with laughter, Dimentio shut the lid with a snap, silencing the cries of Mr. L.

**SORRY FOR THE SHORT CHAPTER. LONGER CHAPTERS TO BE EXPECTED!**


	5. Sedate Preening

The door creaked open, revealing a green-furred wolf with wings and a black crow. The crow peered inside and realised the lack of the floor. She flapped her wings and flew over to the nearest podium, which was Dimentio's podium. The wolf looked around anxiously and followed. He was revealed to have an arrowhead tail.

Landing on Mr. L's podium, the wolf folded his green wings and looked around at the four surprised faces. Not exactly surprised by this less-than-warm welcome, the wolf raised a paw and waved it a little too energetically.

"Hi!" he said. "I'm Bolt!"

"Xena," said the crow, preening herself before looking around at the dumb-struck minions. "D'you know anyone called Dimentio? Purple jester, creepy smile, curly-toed shoes, flies around without wings?"

"D-Dimentio?" repeated Nastasia faintly.

"You _know _him?" asked Mimi interestedly.

"Where's deh jester-face? I'll beat 'im to a pulp! I'll chunk him teh pieces!" boomed O'Chunks.

Xena rolled her black eyes. "We don't know where he is," she said. "We were _hoping _that you'd know anything about Dimentio. We gotta find him."

"Why, inquired Count Bleck?" Obviously, that was the Count.

"Well, would you believe that we're looking for a masked man that wears green-and-black clothes, a bandanna and cap and calls himself the Green Thunder?" said Bolt mockingly, smirking. His teeth were an inch long at least.

"Uh, actually we would," said Nastasia uncertainly.

"So you _do _know him, then?" said Bolt, surveying Nastasia with interest. "Who're you?"

Slightly taken aback by the slight rudeness of this question, Nastasia cleared her throat clumsily before replying, "Uh, Nastasia."

"Hi, I'm Mimi!" said Mimi brightly from her podium.

"O'Chunks's the name, chunking be meh game!" announced O'Chunks proudly, throwing out his chest and tucking his thumbs into his pockets with a wink.

"And I... am Count Bleck!" said the Count. "Bleheheheheh!"

"Mm-hm," said Xena, obviously completely uninterested. "Say, any of you guys heard of Misery Forest?"

"Yes, we have! D'you think we're dummy-heads?" yelled Mimi, annoyed.

"Who d'you think your talking to, green-bean?" said Xena rudely.

"Xena," murmured Bolt, casting her a quick, darting glance that plainly said, "Shut up NOW!"

Mimi looked as though she had been slapped in the face. When she spoke, there was pure fury in every syllable.

"Don't. Call. Me. GREEN-BEAN!" she roared, and lunged for Xena. O'Chunks caught her by one of her pigtails and Nastasia and Count Bleck both cried out, "MIMI! DON'T!"

Xena, who was obviously unharmed, yawned obnoxiously and began her sedate preening again. Bolt growled and snapped at her, but Xena simply blew a raspberry at him.

"Shut it, fur-face."

Bolt opened his wings and held them out in an intimidating fashion, his tail arched over his head, quivering ominously. "Don't push your luck, Xena," he said, his voice a deadly-cold whisper now.

Xena stared at the tail pointing at her heart and blinked once.

Count Bleck cleared his throat, and all attention was directed to him.

"Count Bleck has devised a plan," he said.

"Yeah, yeah. Next you're gonna tell us that you're in love with O'Chunks. Oh, wait. You are."

Xena would have heartily regretted that insult if Nastasia hadn't been there to hold the Count back.


	6. The Legend of the Capture Box

"Capture Box?" repeated Mimi, frowning. "What's that?"

"We've already told it to you, green-bean," said Xena smoothly. "The Capture Box is a legendary box that sucks up anyone who opens it to its full extent. It is said that the skeletons of the starved float around inside the Box."

"it's also said that there is no sky nor ground inside it," put in Bolt. "In short, it's hell if you want to keep you're sanity about you."

"And now Dimentio has it, I'll bet all my feathers that he's up to no good." added Xena defiantly. "In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if he's reporting to his supreme evil boss about the latest Capture, which is what it's called when someone's sucked into the Box."

"No sky? No ground?" exclaimed Mimi in horror. "That'd mean no dresses! How horrible! What kind of dummy would open that Box?"

"Um, who exactly would be evil or stupid enough to, y'know, _make _a box that could kill you slowly?" said Nastasia.

O'Chunks scratched his head. "Now dat I think o' it, who _would _be 'dat thick teh make a box like dat?"

"You?" replied Xena, and she squawked as O'Chunks hurled a punch at her, which missed her by a feather.

"There's a legend with the story, y'know!" said Bolt brightly.

"Oh, goodie!" squealed Mimi, as she sat down, cross-legged, on her podium. "I _love _stories!"

"Come to think of it, Count Bleck could do with a good story too," approved the Count.

"If the Count approves it, I guess I do too," muttered Nastasia.

"Let's 'ear it, den!" said O'Chunks eagerly.

Bolt looked around, cleared his throat and began:

"_This is the legend of the Capture Box, and it goes like this. A long, long, _long _time ago, there lived two kings. One king was good and the other evil. One day, the evil king wanted to be the ruler of the land, not just one of them. And so, he snuck out to the darkest places, where the sun never shines, and where the moon is not welcome. He forged a Box, a Box designed to Capture anyone who opened it, all except for its creator, for when the creator opened it, he was presented with his wildest dreams. He named it the Capture Box._

_And so, the evil king presented the Box to the good king, who opened it and was immediately sucked in. Cackling, the king took his place as ultimate ruler, and opened the Box, expecting to see gold and riches. But instead, he too was sucked into the Box._

_The Box was hidden, far away, when a sorcerer with great magical abilities found the Box, and opened it, and was presented with gold and jewels. Ecstatic, the sorcerer decided to pass it down for generations._

_And so, the Box has been passed down for years. But when it reached the wrong hands, chaos and maybe even Death itself will break out._ And that's the end of the story."

Bolt finished the tale with a smug expression on his face. Xena ceased her preening and gave a caw, which awakened everyone from their fuzzy trances. O'Chunks grunted and blinked vigourously, Mimi shook her head, Nastasia cleared her throat and Count Bleck rubbed his eyes.

Well, _eye_, seeing that he wore a monocle.


	7. On the Count of Three

"Well, then!" exclaimed Count Bleck. "If we are to rescue Mr. L from Dimentio, we will certainly be in need of..." He did a quick head-count. "...six people! Bleck, I say!"

"I'll _bleck _on him if he doesn't shut up," muttered Xena.

And so, the six new-found friends went marching into Misery Forest in search of Dimentio and Mr. L. The young trees nesting many animals were constantly avoided, for Bolt, the leader, knew that the path he and Xena had followed before had had no trees surrounding it. Bolt kept up a running stream of commentary while sniffing all around, and Xena rode purposefully on the head of Nastasia. Count Bleck hovered uncertainly behind O'Chunks and Mimi, who both kept their distance between each other.

Suddenly, the sound of crazed laughter met their ears. Bolt threw out his wings to halt the group. He gave a curt nod to Xena, who cawed and flew silently upwards. She soared above the trees and flew towards the sound of the laughing.

"W-who is it?" said Mimi in a voice that was a shade louder than a whisper.

"I have a shrewd idea," muttered Nastasia.

Sure enough, Xena flew back, cawing fretfully. Once she had landed on Nastasia's head, she had to preen herself to calm herself down. Once she had regained the felling of speech in her throat, she gave more screechy caws, one name just distinguishable between them.

"Dimentio!"

The group fled towards that hateful scream of mirth. The trees began to thin and they slowed to a tip-toe, hiding in the dense bushes. Mimi, being the smallest, raised her head slightly to see what was going on. Her hair, being green, blended in almost perfectly with the bushes.

"Wutz he doin', lass?" whispered O'Chunks in a gravelly voice.

"He's laughing," reported Mimi. "And there's a blue box next to him."

"The Capture Box, I'm certain of it!" breathed Bolt. "Where is it, Mimi?"

"On the ground, next to him."

"That's good," said Bolt. "How about his eyes?"

"He's crying with laughter, but his eyes're closed," said Mimi disgustedly. "I never knew you could cry if you laughed too much!"

"You can learn a lot during one little adventure," said Xena gravely.

"How are we going to get it, whispered Count Bleck?"

"We'll need a distraction," replied Bolt. "Count, who's the loudest out of all of your minions?"

"O'Chunks," said the Count.

"Eh!" said O'Chunks loudly.

Nastasia pinched him hard to make him shut up.

"Perfect!" said Bolt ecstatically. "Coupled with Xena, I'm sure that'll make a good enough distraction. Okay, Xena, Chunkster, you guys get Dimentio as far away as possible from that Box. Me, the Count, Nastasia and Mimi'll all make a break for it once he's far enough away. Got it?"

" 'K," said Nastasia.

"Sure!" whispered Mimi.

"Bleheheh!" nodded Count Bleck.

"Got it," said Xena.

"Ar," said O'Chunks.

"Okay, then!" breathed Bolt. "On the count of three, you guys jump out at him, okay? One..."

Xena and O'Chunks tensed in preparation.

"Two..."

Xena opened her wings. O'Chunks flexed his muscles.

"Three!"


	8. The End

Xena and O'Chunks charged out of the bushes at the insane jester, whose head snapped up. O'Chunks roared and charged Dimentio. Out of shock, Dimentio didn't react as fast as he would have done, and was slammed into a tree. Little winking stars appeared underneath his eyelids.

Xena cawed ferociously and flew like a bullet at Dimentio. She stabbed and snapped at him with her beak and slashed his face with her talons. Struggling, Dimentio's smile split, and became an insane grin. He charged Xena, completely forgetting about his powers, laughing madly at the crow. He zipped past the shocked O'Chunks and lunged. His hand grabbed Xena's tail and he cackled madly as Xena struggled to break free.

"Ah hah hah hah! What do we have here? A little birdie! Like a butterfly in a net, like a mouse in a mouse-trap, I have captured you! All we have to do is pluck her and she's ready for the oven! Ah hah hah!"

"I'm - not - a - turkey!" cawed Xena as she gasped for breath. She broke out of Dimentio's grip, but lost a couple of tail feathers in the process. Unable to catch air properly, she shot into the air unsteadily, and slowly began descending, despite her furiously flapping wings.

Black feathers swirled around Dimentio as he turned and saw O'Chunks bellowing like a bull and charging towards him. Dimentio clicked his fingers and a square magic barrier appeared around the Scotsman.

"H- whuh?" demanded O'Chunks, staring around at his shimmering prison.

Dimentio laughs soon changed into a shriek of anger as he saw Nastasia, Count Bleck and Mimi dive for the Capture Box. "Nooo!" he screamed. "It's mine! Mine, I tell you! Ah hah hah!"

Dimentio rose high into the air and shot a magic blast at Count Bleck, which hit him squarely in the head. Groaning, the Count collapsed.

"Ah hah hah! And Count Bleck is felled like an axeman cutting down a tree! Ah hah... huh?"

Mimi had leaped to her feet and, in a furious rage, had started throwing scarlet Rubees at Dimentio. Like glittering drops of blood, they flew through the air and shot at Dimentio. Nastasia was standing, dumb-struck, at the battle before her.

Dimentio dodged each assault, each one coupled with a chuckle. "You cannot win, my dear!" he yelled, hurling two magic blasts at Mimi. Her eyes widened in fear and shock as she fell next to the Count.

Dimentio, practically screaming with laughter, turned to Nastasia. "And now, like the finale to a magic show, I destroy _you_, Nastasia!" the jester shouted, charging up his final magic blast. But Nastasia was too quick for him. She dived for the Box just as Dimentio screamed with rage. She wrenched open the Box, directed its white, infinite depths at Dimentio, and shut her eyes as the jester was sucked in, and became no more in this world.

**Three weeks later...**

Life at Castle Bleck had finally gone back to normal. The barrier surrounding O'Chunks had faded once its creator had gone, Mimi and Count Bleck were revived, Xena's tail feathers grew back, and Mr. L returned. Nastasia was hailed as a hero, too.

"Hero_ine_," Mimi often corrected.

However, there was just one thing bothering Nastasia, and it wasn't the overload of work she had received the week before. She approached Bolt in the corridor one day, and voiced the question she had been mulling over.

"Hey Bolt," she said. "Y'know when we were, um, fighting Dimentio?"

"Yes?" said the aldawolf.

"Why didn't you help us?"

And Bolt turned to face her, with those emerald-green eyes, and finally gave her the answer she had been dying to hear.

"Well," he said with a mocking smile, "why do you think?"

**The End. Please review!**


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